Property Rounds: Vineyard Vines embraces open space design at new home

Save the Children Vice President of Information Technology and Building Operations Ken Murdoch in the company's new headquarters, featuring an open space work place design, at 501 King's Highway East in Fairfield, Conn. on Tuesday, July 1, 2014. less

Save the Children Vice President of Information Technology and Building Operations Ken Murdoch in the company's new headquarters, featuring an open space work place design, at 501 King's Highway East in ... more

Save the Children employees meet in a "fishbowl" glass-walled meeting room at the company's new headquarters, featuring an open space work place design, at 501 King's Highway East in Fairfield, Conn. on Tuesday, July 1, 2014. less

Save the Children employees meet in a "fishbowl" glass-walled meeting room at the company's new headquarters, featuring an open space work place design, at 501 King's Highway East in Fairfield, Conn. on ... more

Greenwich Plaza at Greenwich and Railroad avenues, where AQR Capital and Silver Point Capital conduct business on trading floors, was a precursor of the open office space concept. The building is owned and managed by Stamford-based Ashforth Co. less

Greenwich Plaza at Greenwich and Railroad avenues, where AQR Capital and Silver Point Capital conduct business on trading floors, was a precursor of the open office space concept. The building is owned and ... more

Property Rounds: Vineyard Vines embraces open space design at new home

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Companies are making it easier for their employees to get to know each other better as they increasingly embrace a new strategy to improve production and reduce costs.

Modeled after trading floors at investment banks and hedge funds, the open-space office environment is now being adapted by other types of businesses to their own needs at their headquarters and large regional facilities.

Their goal is to improve communication and the exchange of ideas among members of companies' small operating units by creating pod-like clusters.

Employees often become isolated in their own individual "silos," and fall into the rut of depending on their cellphones or emails to communicate with fellow employees -- thus limiting communications with their cohorts, according to Maureen McAvey, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Land Institute.

"It (open office space) is a trend in some companies. They want to get away from the cube farms," McAvey said. "When you collaborate, a lot more can get done."

Smaller space requirements

The strategy also reduces space needs by increasing the density of employees in a workspace, allowing a company to lease less square footage, she said.

"Users (of an open office space strategy) find they need 20 percent less space," McAvey said, but cost savings is only a secondary benefit to adopting the strategy. "It's a driver, but I'm not sure it's the primary driver."

But the adapting to the new office layout can require some education, patience and understanding, according to McAvey.

"For the first time, we have four generations in some workplaces -- some older than the boomers," she said. "There has been tension between the generations because their work philosophies don't mix. It takes coaching and planning to make this work well. You have to consider what kind of work a department does, and does it lend itself to collaboration."

A open space office strategy often provides an opportunity for "benching," or collecting a small number of desks in an area and allowing employees to more easily communicate.

It also can allow for "hoteling," a term for unassigned seating that can be easily used by an employee -- often traveling from site to site -- to conduct work.

McAvey made note of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's decision to limit employees' ability to work remotely based on her concerns that communication and collaboration are suffering.

`Creating an experience'

Stamford-based Vineyard Vines, which has developed a reputation for its easy living clothing line, is adopting an open space office philosophy for its new home at 181 Shippan Landing in the city where it expects to relocate its 180 employees from 37 Brown House Road in Stamford in early 2015.

"It's important for all our teams to work together," said Ian Murray, Vineyard Vines CEO and co-founder with his brother Shep Murray. "We want people to know what's going on in other parts of the company, and having an open concept will allow our employees to see what's happening across all of our business channels."

Founded in 1998, the company become known for its iconic silk whale ties and has expanded into children's clothing, sports shirts, polo shirts and knit shirts, and the open space layout fits the merchandise, according to Shep Murray.

"We're creating more than just a product, we're creating an experience for our customers, and collaboration in our workspace is critical to help bring that experience to life," he said.

Designed by CPG Architects in Stamford, the layout will create a balance of open workstations and meeting and workspaces in the four-story building, said Mike Gaumer, Vineyard Vines president.

"It's not just about having traditional conference rooms, we need small spaces for one-on-one meetings and more private conversations, we need open meeting spaces for a whole team to gather, and we need space to work, develop and present new ideas," he said, adding that the plan allows for growth.

`Gut rehab'

The building, along with buildings 208 and 290 at the complex, underwent extensive upgrades to prepare them for tenants, said Peter Duncan, president and CEO of George Comfort & Sons, owner of the property.

"It was a gut rehab," he said. "If someone is looking for an open layout, it's a lot easier to get a look at it when it's wide open."

The design will allow for work stations that are located in a way to promote interaction but avoid a traditional structured look, according to Gary Unger, founder of CPG architects, noting that the first floor will offer a cafeteria and patio, fitness center, yoga studio, photo studio and a mock up of a company store.

"Your line of sight won't be right in someone's face. The challenge is to give a person some dignity and privacy. It's how we position stations -- not just in rows. It has an open ceiling with spray-on insulation, which will help," Unger said.

His designed the open space layout for Canondale's headquarters at iPark on the Norwalk-Wilton town, as well as open space layouts for Diageo in Norwalk and Nestle Waters North America in Stamford.

"The building is very well positioned. It's on the water and has new mechanicals," said Unger, who is taking advantage of the water views and operable windows in his design. "All of it seems to fit the Vineyard Vines lifestyle."

Creating the infrastructure

While there is a trend toward open office space environments which fit more employees into less space, building owners, tenants and their architects must work together to allow for sufficient infrastructure to support the process.

"It's hard for office systems -- like air conditioning and parking -- to keep up," said Jim Fagan, senior managing director of the Stamford office of Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate office serving much of Fairfield County. "If you put more people in a space, it gets hot."

In some instances, Fagan said the formula for an open office space setting is less than about 200 square feet per employee down to about 125 square feet per employee, compared with about 250 square feet per employee in a more traditional office setting.

"We call it the densification of office space," he said.

But saving money on a lease is only a side benefit of operating in an open space office environment, he said, adding that it is essential to have private meeting rooms.

"There's a balance between having privacy and collaboration," Fagan said.

With the arrival of portable computers and mobile phones, there is less need for employees to work in isolation in a small office space, according to Lisa Mercurio, director of the Fairfield County Information Exchange, an initiative of the Business Council of Fairfield County.

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"The portability of what you need to work -- laptops, mobile phones -- has really changed where we can work. You don't need to be wired to your desk," she said. "We are seeing companies use that flexibility, and the increasing need to collaborate among work teams, to incorporate more shared spaces into their layouts. But having a balance between private meeting space and more social space has been an important consideration for employers."